Continuous Learning in Organizations

¶ … Learning in Organizations Continuous Learning This assignment is a review journal for the book 'Continuous Learning in Organizations: Individual, Group, and Organizational Perspectives', by Sessa & London (2006). Preface & Preliminary Material I like to read the introductory material for books before diving in. It gives one a hint of the author's personal thinking, motivations, and other insights.

In this preface the authors explain how the book was put together, with the input from individuals as well as corporate involvement, including 'focus' or discussion groups addressing the topic of 'Continuous Learning: what does it mean?'. I found this statement about the rapidity of ongoing change to be thought-provoking: 'These changes raise the potential of rewards for those with insight' (Sessa & London, 2006: ix). The authors define learning for each of the three categories (individual, group, and organization), and talk about its importance.

They also state that their purpose is 'to communicate the meaning and value of learning'. As well, the significance and impact of continuous learning upon the individual, the group, and the organization were addressed, analyzed, and evaluated in the process of preparing this textbook. Chapter 1: The Meaning of Continuous Learning The preface states that Chapter 1 describes the authors' concept of continuous learning at the three levels and presents a systems model of 'adaptive, generative, and transformative learning' (Sessa & London, 2006:xi).

I feel that the chapter began oddly (which the authors acknowledge) in that they started by saying 'learning is risky'. As an individual, I find learning to be fun, as well as positive on many levels, but the corporate perspective on the 'riskiness' of learning was rather interesting. Essentially, the corporate perspective was that employees might ask questions and think for themselves, instead of being 'obedient robots' and that can be threatening and down-right difficult for an organization.

This would particularly be the case if it were the old-fashioned 'patriarchal' type of corporation. On the other hand, one would think such a corporation wouldn't 'buy in' to continuous learning unless at least some of the upper management were on board with the concept. As well, the authors address learning from a group perspective, and this too is interesting; they say we are not used to 'group-think'.

I believe the important aspect in this context relates to working as a team, thinking and learning about how to better serve the company, or even how best to do a given task. As part of their 'multi-level contingency theory of continuous learning', Sessa & London (2006:4) break learning into categories: adaptive, generative, and/or transformative, and state that there are both barriers to continuous learning, and solutions ('interventions') to overcome these barriers.

Using a 'systems' approach, they point out that the individual affects the group, the group affects the organization, and all three are each impacted by the other two. The systems approach to continuous learning, as I understand it, is that continuous learning needs to be perceived both piecemeal and simultaneously from each perspective in order to gain a real understanding of both the dynamics and the actuality of what continuous learning is and how it functions.

What Sessa & London (2006) are presenting so far is an analysis of the whole picture of learning within an organization, breaking that structure into its component groups, and breaking the group structure into the component individuals. This is not a discussion about what I do in learning on my own, at home with a cup of tea reading about faraway lands, but how my actions in continuous learning impact not only the organization where I am employed, but also as my group of cohorts.

Simultaneously however, the perspective includes how my group of cohorts impact my learning, and then how we as a group affect the organization. There are two final points in this chapter, one is the importance of feedback and/or assessment, and the other is the authors' presentation of 'expert opinions' (Sessa & London, 2006:14). I found it humorous that Cindy McCauley pointed out that all learning is by nature 'continuous', so the phrase 'continuous learning' is a misnomer or perhaps redundant.

Chapter 2: Understanding Individual Continuous Learning From the introduction to the chapter, I see it is clarified that the book is indeed focused on organizations, as this chapter about the individual is again focused on learning in organizations. A focus is on a supportive environment for learning, with ongoing assessment, as the learner changes during the process. The authors' emphasize that learning results in a change based on the knowledge acquired; this 'deepening and broadening' from the newly acquired knowledge also affects both the group and the organization.

A particular distinction is made here, and was described earlier, between learning 'about', or purely academic/theoretical knowledge, and learning 'how', or more applicable and technically useful knowledge (Sessa & London, 2006:20). Once again, the three types of learning are broached: adaptive, generative, and transformative. Adaptive knowledge for the individual is described by Sessa & London (2006:20), as being a 'reaction to a stimulus in the external environment'.

My understanding is that this might be something as simple as a penalty for being late - the employee learns this behavior is not tolerated. In contrast, generative learning is purposeful' (Sessa & London, 2006:24); this would include training programs and workshops, and the authors' state again that learning should be monitored and evaluated.

Transformative learning for the individual literally 'transforms', and a good example is given comparing a person with a wholly rural background with a person who has moved frequently throughout life: the experiences of the latter 'transform' their perspective and worldview. Transformative learning is stated by the authors' to include both reflection and experiences.

However, these would seem to be also a part of both adaptive and generative learning as well, I think, as one cannot actually 'learn' without reflection, and it is experiences that are a part of that learning that may induce reflection. Specifically, the person who is continually late on the job cannot adaptively learn to be on time as required unless they reflect and process the experience of being penalized for being late, or realize they may lose their job.

I disagree with the authors' representation of adaptive learning as being mostly or wholly an unconscious process. Similarly, generative learning in training programs would be useless if the individual failed to reflect on the process of training and learn from the experience. The final topic of this chapter is 'feedback', and examples are given of how feedback at the individual level can be deleterious, especially in a one-on-one situation, and/or if no information is provided as to how to actually 'use' the feedback.

Sessa and London (2006:33) discuss 'feedback orientation' of an individual as an important factor. Chapter 3: Individual Characteristics Affecting Continuous Learning In this chapter, the authors' begin by discussing how personal traits affect learning, particularly at work. Apparently, high-level corporate executives look for an ability to learn on the job when considering individuals for promotion; those who can learn from their own errors in judgment and from mistakes, as well as those who are not closed-minded, fare well in terms of being considered for upwards mobility.

If this is generally true about promotions, it's in contradiction with early material implying corporations might resist continuous learning as being threatening to the 'status quo'. Perhaps it relates more specifically to managerial types and/or individuals in such positions being expected to be learners, but not the more ordinary employee. Factors involved in successful learning include: 'psychological development'; 'personality'; 'motivation and readiness to learn'; and 'learning styles and tactics' (Sessa & London, 2006:38).

The individual's stage of development is an important factor in how they learn, whether personally or in an organization, and as a focus of this text, organizational learning and individual development are considered. The stages of life are discussed, and correlations with age and life-circumstances for the individual are shown to affect their perspective about social, work, and personal goals. Development in terms of consciousness is also presented (Sessa & London, 2006:46).

Discussing development 'as a progression of increasing complexity', the authors' describe five levels, with the first two being young children, and adulthood development beginning in the 3rd level. Oddly, they say that in the 3rd stage 'there is no 'self' independent of 'other people', which I wholly disagree with. No data or statistics are presented, just a generalization that certainly doesn't fit with my own experience(s). This model then moves to levels four and five, with development seemingly being related to 'work' and the organization.

The authors further define most adults in the United States as being at the 3rd level, 'waiting to be told what to learn' (Sessa & London, 2006:51). This is in contrast with organizational needs for adults at or beyond the 4th level, the ability to think on one's own. I find it rather depressing and distressing that the authors' have such a low evaluation of individuals, and wonder where and/or on what they base this seemingly sweeping generalization. Perhaps it is the specific corporate milieu they've gathered data from.

The focus then shifts to employer's needs in organizations, and how to get people to learn, and to want to learn, for example by use of coaches (Sessa & London, 2006: 55). The authors' comment about the ability of self-directed learners, who recognize on their own that further learning about their employment is to their own personal advantage, as well as helping with the task(s) at hand. Personal traits such as conscientiousness and goal orientation are discussed, with information addressing 'learning goal orientation' vs. 'performance goal orientation'.

These aspects are tied in to the activity of seeking feedback, with the authors' stating that individuals who have a performance goal tend not to seek feedback as much. That seems pretty odd to me, as a focus on performance would mean that feedback is necessary. The chapter summary again presents the organizational focus, in that the individual needs to know what they need to learn.

Chapter 4: Facilitating Individual Continuous Learning Chapter 4 opens with a statement that appears to directly contradict a lot of the material from Chapter 3: "individuals by their nature are continuous learners' (Sessa & London, 2006:73). The last chapter implied, if not directly stated, that most individuals were stuck at a low level of personal development, wouldn't/couldn't learn unless told to, and weren't interested in learning beyond 'performance level', and were antagonistic towards learning and/or job-related feedback.

The environment of the organization becomes key in what learning is available, encouraged, and/or permitted for the individual (Sessa & London, 2006:73). The environment includes: the structure of work (what the individual actually does in their job), communities of practice (group activities and personal interactions), the structure and system of the organization, training, management, informational technology, and the external environment. Organizations vary in the types of learning culture that they embody, from a performance culture to a self-learning culture (including support for self-learning), and to a feedback culture.

The authors' devote some time to discussing appropriate and inappropriate feedback, which we learned in Chapter 2 was generally unsuccessful in a one-on-one basis, and usually requires specific suggestions for improvement to be made. There is also considerable discussion on learning assessment methods for individuals in organizations, and both the good and the not so good approaches to assessment. Regardless, however, assessment for continuous learning is of significant importance, and particularly aids the individual in retention of their learning for long enough that it becomes effective (Sessa & London, 2006).

I found the section on 'evidence of learning' to be rather interesting (Sessa & London, 2006:102). There are a variety of different approaches both to assessment and to precisely 'what' is being assessed in any given corporate or organization structure. The authors' present Table 4.2 for 'self-assessment', which asks questions such as 'Are you constantly striving to learn more?' (Sessa & London, 2006:103). Once again, the aspect of a coach or trainer is discussed, in this context as part of the assessment and the evaluation of the learning by the individual.

Chapter 5: Understanding Group Continuous Learning The focus in this chapter is on the definition of a group, comparison of the group to both the individual and to the organization, and explanation that the group is simultaneously an entity in and of itself, yet comprised of individuals. This is again the systems or holistic approach, where no single part, from individual to group to organization, actually stands alone, but all are inter-related.

Points to be addressed will be such questions as the manner in which a group can have inherent stability while concomitantly being comprised of a population that is in flux as individuals join and/or leave the group. The three levels of learning (adaptive, generative, and transformative) will also be applied to the group in this chapter. Both the effectiveness and the importance of groups are addressed by Sessa and London (2006:113); in particular, the changing needs of organizations are moving towards a growing importance for groups and/or teams.

Team learning is seen as being synergistic, as the knowledge of the team is more than the sum of the knowledge from the individual group members. Assessment of group learning, and even group performance is more difficult than assessment of the learning and/or performance of the individual. One approach that has been shown to be useful is to monitor change from a variety of perspectives. I find the information on the group within the organization to be rather interesting.

Feedback for a group is a more complex issue than was feedback for an individual, as the group feedback necessarily is perhaps most often perceived as feedback for the individuals within the group rather than for the group as a whole. The authors state that when feedback is given to the group as a whole it is more effective than feedback for each individual within the group. However, there are not yet very many studies of how feedback works for groups and/or how to optimize group feedback.

One way that is presented of demonstrating group learning is to have a group web-blog. The Hartford Insurance Company is presented as an example of an organization that is successfully implementing a group web-blog (Sessa & London, 2006:119). This is compared with the more typical sending of e-mails on topics, which represent important information that should be shared with more than one or two individuals; Hartford's use of the web-blog has replaced their use of e-mails and information is now more often shared.

Transactive memory is presented by the authors' as a particular aspect of groups, and how they learn and share information (Sessa & London, 2006:121). This refers to the group knowing that one individual may be a specialist in an area, and thus the rest of the group can turn to that person without the necessity of having to learn the specialized area for themselves. This is thus a 'transaction' in which knowledge is shared.

The group as a learning unit in the organizational system is again, comprised of individuals, but is strengthened by shared interactions and knowledge. Chapter 6: Facilitating Group Continuous Learning The learning of a group has three factors which include learning for individuals in the group, learning of the group as a whole, and the situational/environmental setting and its impact upon the group. First, group development is defined as occurring when the group begins to work well together as a while.

This begins with the growth of mutual trust between the group members, as well as the process of developing a mutually shared goal or focus towards an end-goal or process. Mindfulness is a part of the ongoing process towards group synergy, which includes a mutual respect of the group members as individuals, and as a group, towards one another, and towards the group as a whole.

Once the group begins to work together, synergy can occur; at this point the sum total of the group's contributions and thinking becomes greater than that of the individual components. Group development is proposed to occur in a manner akin to that of individual development, going through stages that include: 'dependency and inclusion, counter dependency and fight, trust and structure, engagement, and endgame' (Sessa & London: 136-137). I note that there is an assumption made here that the group has a leader from the outset.

It would seem that in some cases a group might begin without a leader, and one would naturally arise out of group consensus whether verbal or non-verbal. As well, while less common, surely there are examples of leaderless groups that are none-the-less successful groups. Different models for how groups develop are proposed; these might vary with corporate or organizational culture, and might also vary depending upon the nature of the members of a given group.

Stages of group criticism are also discussed, including deconstructive criticism, while includes multiple perspectives and removes the authoritative voice from the feedback giver. Sessa & London (2006:143) return to their interwoven characteristics again in this chapter, where the individual impacts the group and the organization; the group impacts the individual and the organization; and the organization impacts the individual and the group. However, once the group becomes cohesive, it begins to act with synergy, vide supra, and becomes a 'team'.

Now the characteristics of an individual are seen to be extendable to said team, which can vary considerably according to individual member characteristics, according to organizational characteristics, and according to various levels of inter-personal dynamics. Most important of these, in the context of continuous learning, is the team learning orientation, the 'climate for proactive learning' (Sessa & London, 2006: 149). Finally, the topic of group assessment is addressed: this can be determined in a variety of different ways.

A cohesive group is effective in goal accomplishment, leading to a group synergy, which arises from trust and positive interactions. Organizational input can be of significant importance in helping the group develop. Chapter 7: Understanding Organizational Continuous Learning First, Sessa & London (2006:160) comment that business organizations can vary in size, and define their perspective of an organization. Organizational learning has at least five characteristics: 'collectivity of individual learning; development of culture; continuous improvement; innovation; and systems that learn' (Sessa & London, 2006:162).

These five factors are summarized as changing procedures, policies, and interactions, that cumulatively comprise organizational learning. Change alone is not evidence of learning for an organization, as change can be destructive or non-constructive without being representative of growth. Feedback is once again a critical component of learning, and is input in a variety of different ways. Knowledge management is important to consider, and particularly the differences in how experts and novices assimilate, attain, and transfer knowledge; experts tend to have more organized information (Sessa & London, 2006:165).

Again, the learning of organizations comes about through the learning of individuals in the organization, the learning of groups in the organization, and input for the organization itself. When the three concepts of adaptive, generative, and transformative learning are applied to an organization, there are both similarities and differences with respect to how these concepts apply to individuals and/or groups. Adaptive learning might be, for example, a response to consumer demand, or in a more simple sense, simply characterization of environmental changes as either opportunities or threats.

In contrast, generative learning for an organization is much broader in scope: it is a more deliberate process, and may include a need for awareness of potential inherent errors. The transformative learning of an organization is likely to involve discussion, and learning from experience, which often occurs when performances fail to reach the expected levels. Failure can be useful for organizations and induce momentum for change, although organizations are often slower to change than are individuals and groups.

Organizational learning is viewed by Sessa & London (2006:175) as the sum of the learning of both individuals and groups within the organizations, and may be described as a constantly ongoing process. The complexity of the process makes this far more difficult without building new models by which the organization can move forward. Chapter 8: Facilitating Organizational Continuous Learning Both external and internal factors affect organizational learning (Sessa & London, 2006:179); these include both environmental factors on the outside as well as the individual and group learning on the inside.

The development of organization can of course be measured as progress, however, precisely what is growth for any given organizational may depend upon.